The former federal minister made this announcement – which was broadcast live on Facebook – in his constituency in Semporna, Sabah, after returning from performing umrah in Mecca.

In a 90-minute speech, Shafie spoke about Umno’s decision to suspend him last month for allegedly collaborating with the Opposition and questioned why he was not called to defend himself.

“So we punish first before investigating?”

He also stressed that he had never worked with the Opposition.

Shafie, who has spoken out against 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was suspended by Umno on June 24, while fellow Umno rebels, suspended Deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin and former Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir were sacked.

The former rural and regional development minister, who claimed he was among the pioneers of Sabah Umno, said he was informed of his suspension via a text message.

Last year, Shafie was dropped from the Cabinet after criticising the government on the way it handled allegations of mismanagement at 1MDB.

Comments

Readers are required to have a valid Facebook account to comment on this story. We welcome your opinions to allow a healthy debate. We want our readers to be responsible while commenting and to consider how their views could be received by others. Please be polite and do not use swear words or crude or sexual language or defamatory words. FMT also holds the right to remove comments that violate the letter or spirit of the general commenting rules.

The views expressed in the contents are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of FMT.